Watercooler Stories

Online TV auditions for hot moms

NEW YORK, Feb. 15 (UPI) -- Auditions for the "Hottest Mom in America" television show are taking place from Maine to Oregon and points between, thanks to the Internet.

Show executives said they would accept audition videos submitted via the show's Web site through March 14. Interested moms must visit www.hottestmomonline.com to upload their audition videos.

Auditions were to take place in six cities across the United States, but Executive Producer Jeff Greenfield said radio stations and fans elsewhere wanted to be included.

"We figured with the popularity and ease of uploading online videos, let's audition for the Hottest Mom Online, and invite that digital hot mom to the show finale in Hollywood," Greenfield said.

Producers said they hope to discover sexy, engaging, confident moms, but -- hot moms take note -- no nudity allowed in the online auditions videos.

Ellison's office calls cops on neighbor

WASHINGTON, Feb. 15 (UPI) -- Rep. Keith Ellison, a freshman Democrat from Minnesota, seems to have gotten off on the wrong foot with his Republican neighbor on Capitol Hill.

The Hill says Ellison's office called the Capitol Hill Police last week because Rep. Tom Tancredo, R-Colo., was smoking a cigar in his congressional office on the first floor of the Longworth House Office Building.

Tancredo, who has never met Ellison, called the incident "bizarre."

"Seemed to me not a good way to say hello," he told The Hill.

Rick Jauert, Ellison's press secretary, said he called the building superintendent's office when he noticed the smoke and was referred to the Capitol Hill Police.

"I called because the smoke was coming through the walls," Jauert told the Hill.

Tancredo said he has three air purifiers in is office.

Clerical error may lead to $1 million bill

BURLINGTON, N.J., Feb. 15 (UPI) -- One of six New Jersey communities named Washington Township may be forced to pay off a $1 million lawsuit due to a clerical error by its insurer.

The South Jersey Courier-Post said that while the Washington Township in Burlington County thought it was protected by insurance from a 2004 lawsuit, the insurance company denied the claim after it learned a clerk had mistakenly given the coverage to a township in Bergen County.

The township is being sued by a former school district student, who alleges that his civil rights were violated when he was barred from attending school in 2000 after testing positive for marijuana.

An investigation into the Great American Insurance Company's stance is under way by the state Department of Insurance.

The lawsuit is set to continue this spring -- and if the court finds in favor of the plaintiff, the township could ultimately be forced to pay more than $1 million as part of the final verdict, the paper said.

Gold, lobster among 007 pizza toppings

ROME, Feb. 15 (UPI) -- Scottish chef Domenico Crolla went all out for his special Pizza Royale 007, adding lobster chunks marinated in cognac and even 24-carat gold shavings.

The pricey pizza -- which Crolla made for Italian lawyer Maurizio Morelli at a cost of $4,220 -- resulted from an unusual eBay charity auction in November.

As part of his winning bid, Morelli had the Glasgow, Scotland, restaurateur fly to Rome to make the extravagant dish for his wife, Sabrina, as a special Valentine's Day gift.

The ingredients in the James Bond-themed culinary masterpiece included venison medallions, Scottish smoked salmon, sunblush tomato sauce and champagne-soaked caviar.

"This is the perfect romantic Valentine's gift," Crolla told Sky News. "We Italians are experts at 'amore' and I think this pizza will show that the way to a woman's heart is definitely through her stomach."